Global & US Headlines
Israel Green-Lights 19 More West Bank Settlements, Including Ganim & Kadim Re-establishment
On 22 Dec 2025 Israel’s security cabinet legalized 19 settlement outposts—two of them dismantled in the 2005 “disengagement”—pushing the tally of new settlements under the current coalition to 69.
Focusing Facts
- Peace Now counts 210 recognised settlements in the West Bank/East Jerusalem, up from 141 in 2022—a 49% jump in three years.
- Approximately 700,000 Israeli citizens, about 10 % of Israel’s population, now reside in West Bank/East Jerusalem settlements.
- The 2024 ICJ advisory opinion declared Israel’s occupation and settlement enterprise unlawful and urged withdrawal “as rapidly as possible.”
Context
When Ariel Sharon evacuated Ganim and Kadim in August 2005, many saw it as the first rollback of the post-1967 map; today’s reversal evokes France’s 1958 return to massive settler projects in Algeria just as decolonisation winds were blowing. The move fits a 57-year trajectory of ‘facts on the ground’—incremental land, road and legal changes that turn a military occupation into a civilian one-way street—mirroring other settler-colonial patterns (e.g., Morocco’s “Green March” into Western Sahara, 1975). It underscores three converging long-term trends: (1) the Israeli right’s shift from tactical ambiguity to explicit anti-statehood goals; (2) the erosion of international law’s practical bite despite unanimous rulings; and (3) a regional realignment where Western threats of aid cuts ring hollow while emerging powers stay neutral. On a century scale, each new outpost hardens a demographic and legal mosaic that, like South Africa’s 1913–1991 “homeland” strategy, can endure for generations even after formal policy changes. Whether today’s approvals mark the point of no return for the two-state model—or a high-water mark before outside pressure bites—will shape the landscape Israelis and Palestinians inherit in 2125.
Perspectives
Progressive and human-rights oriented media
Al Jazeera, Democracy Now!, Truthout, Middle East Monitor — Cast the 19 new West Bank settlements as an illegal escalation of Israeli apartheid that entrenches occupation and blocks Palestinian statehood. Stories center Palestinian suffering and use charged terms like “genocide” and “apartheid,” giving little space to Israeli security rationales or intra-Israeli debate.
Mainstream international public broadcasters & diplomatic outlets
Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Vatican News — Warn that the settlement approvals breach international law and further imperil a two-state solution, echoing UN and European government criticism. Tone strives for balance and official sourcing, which can dilute the moral urgency stressed by activists and largely confines debate to diplomatic talking-points.
Right-wing populist alternative media
InfoWars — Frames Israel’s move as bold territorial expansion done in spite of Western pressure, signalling momentum toward annexation. Sensationalist language and anti-establishment framing spotlight defiance of “globalists,” downplaying the settlements’ illegality and Palestinian rights.